Ideally , Casey St. Clair would be spending Thanksgiving relaxing and eating dinner with her boyfriend and his family .

Instead , the part-time Target employee and substitute teacher will work next Thursday night during the early kickoff of the big-box retailer 's Black Friday sale . Stores will open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving this year , reflecting a wider shift in the retail industry toward getting a head start on the biggest shopping day of the year .

Wal-Mart workers plan Black Friday walkout

As it stands now , Toys R Us , Wal-Mart , Sears and KMart will be the first large retail chains to open their doors for bargain hunters at 8 p.m. . Many other chains are open Thanksgiving Day , but their Black Friday sales do n't start until midnight or Friday morning .

St. Clair , who lives in Corona , California , is scheduled to work Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. She 'll return Thanksgiving Day before 9 p.m. and work until 5:15 on Friday morning . She has to sleep at some point , so traveling 45 minutes each way for Thanksgiving dinner is out .

`` It should n't have to be a rushed affair , slipping in to eat some turkey and taking a piece of pie for the road , '' said St. Clair , who plans to have dinner at home with her boyfriend before going to work .

What 's your Black Friday strategy ?

She likes working for Target , which is why she has stayed with the company for six years , even after relocating from the East Coast in 2011 , she said .

She is also grateful to have a job that pays time and a half plus bonus pay for overnight hours , even if it means she ca n't fly home to her own family for the holidays .

But after watching Black Friday sales start earlier each year , she decided the company had gone too far this time and started a Change.org petition asking Target CEO Gregg W. Steinhafel to forgo the plan to open stores on Thanksgiving .

`` It 's one of few days retail employees get to spend with their families , but at this point there 's no time to see family , '' St. Clair said in a phone interview .

`` My main issue is not with people wanting to shop ; they can do that still , though I think that they can hold off until Friday without the world crashing down , '' she said . `` My issue is that Target and other retailers have done something they have never done before in opening on Thanksgiving . My anger is aimed at the loss of a day that , up until now , was considered important enough for only the most essential services to be open . ''

Why it sucks to work Black Friday

She 's not the only one who thinks the `` Black Friday creep '' hurts employees and their families , with some taking action . A group of Wal-Mart workers are planning to strike at about 1,000 stores on Black Friday .

More than 40 petitions have been launched on Change.org asking retailers including Sears , Target , Walmart and Kohl 's to `` give Thanksgiving back to families . '' Many of them popped up after St. Clair 's appeared Friday , earning more than 200,000 signatures as of Wednesday .

When it started earning traction , Change.org promoted the petition among users , but even before then it had taken on a life of its own , site spokeswoman Charlotte Hill said .

`` Employees and customers alike are saying , ` Thanksgiving should be about celebrating with family , not shopping for the latest deals , ' '' Hill said .

Comments on the petitions echo that sentiment , with some threatening to boycott stores that they say put revenue before employees .

`` I 'm a conscious consumer ; I think of good reasons to shop where I do , and consider why and why not to give any store my money . Seeing this happen year after year to the employees of Target irks me , and makes me want to ... take my money elsewhere , '' one user said .

Other comments in petitions against Target and other retailers focused on the importance of letting employees spend time with family .

`` After 33 years in retail , I still love everything about the holidays ... except telling some poor employee she has to forgo her family holiday because she has to work ! We really have to put a limit on the madness ! '' said a person who signed a petition titled , `` Retailers : Stop Black Thursday . ''

`` Families should come before retail sales ! Give these people the day off that they deserve , '' said another person who signed the petition `` Wal-Mart : Move Black Friday Start Back to Friday . ''

Relatives of retail employees are also speaking out . The sister of a Target employee in Illinois started a petition on behalf of her family , claiming that for them , Thanksgiving will `` not be complete '' without him .

`` Family has always been important to me and Thanksgiving is all about family , '' Jennifer Ann said in her petition , `` Target : Do n't take away Thanksgiving . '' She asked to withhold her last name in deference to her brother , who asked to conceal his identity .

Last year , it was hard for her 24-year-old brother , who has worked for Target since high school , to relax knowing he had to be at work , she said in an interview with sister network HLN . He rushed through dinner and had to leave for his shift just as everyone was starting to unwind .

This year , he 's going to miss dinner altogether , she said .

`` It 's just unfortunate that he has to be at work when we 're celebrating , '' she said . `` I get that you sign up for things like this . -LRB- But -RRB- you do n't typically have to work on Thanksgiving when you work in retail , and this is something that 's kind of gradually happened . ''

Target and other big-box retailers say they 're responding to consumer demands as best they can -- with employees in mind .

`` Target 's opening time was carefully evaluated with our guests , team and the business in mind . Across the country , team member preferences were considered in creating our store staffing schedules , '' said spokeswoman Molly Snyder . `` Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest of the year , and we appreciate our Target team 's flexibility on this weekend and throughout the holiday season . ''

All hourly employees who work on a national holiday , including Thanksgiving , receive pay equal to time and a half their hourly pay rate , she said . Additionally , team members who work certain hours on Thanksgiving and Friday will receive shift differential pay and holiday premium pay .

Walmart also was named in several petitions , though most of its stores are open 24 hours and 365 days a year , including Thanksgiving . Last year , customer traffic was highest during the 10 p.m. hour on Thanksgiving , a spokesman said

`` We appreciate our associates for everything they do to serve our customers during this busy shopping season and every day throughout the year , '' spokesman Steve Restivo said in an e-mail . `` According to the National Retail Federation , Thanksgiving night shopping has surged over the past three years . Most of our stores are open 24 hours and , historically , much of our Black Friday preparations have been done on Thanksgiving , which is not unusual in the retail industry . ''

Ultimately , the power is in the hands of consumers to drive down the demand for extended shopping hours , retail and employment experts agreed .

Labor Day and Memorial Day used to be days of rest , too , said Rich Milgram , CEO of career network Beyond.com , which connects employers and job seekers . But now , sales on those days are the norm , showing that over time , society grows accustomed to changes and demands of the free market .

`` This says less about the retailer and more about society as a whole . Target , Sears , Kmart and others are all doing what they need to do maximize sales and profits , '' he said .

Just as consumers are driving the demand , employees are choosing to work in the field , leaving companies with little choice but to take advantage of every opportunity in the marketplace , said Bill Peppler with staffing firm Kavaliro .

`` In today 's economy where jobs are scarce and unemployment is high , people are willing to do more now than they were willing to do two to three years ago . This is especially true in retail . Black Friday alone last year led to almost $ 12 billion in sales , so you can understand the employers stance on this issue , '' he said .

Does this mean that Christmas and New Years shopping is next ?

Probably not , said Brooks Holtom , associate professor of management at Georgetown University 's McDonough School of Business .

`` I would suggest they are much less at risk because most of the shopping we see at Thanksgiving is in anticipation of Christmas . The incentive for retailers to open on Christmas and New Year 's is much lower . ''

St. Clair knows it 's too late to realistically expect Target to change its tune this year . But she is hopeful that her petition and others like it will make Target 's leadership reconsider opening early for Thanksgiving next year .

`` Going forward I hope it forces Target and other companies to take another look when they realize how many people out there care about this issue , '' she said .

Until then , St. Clair plans to be in the electronics section Thanksgiving night through the morning hours of Black Friday .

`` I do value my job and that 's my schedule , '' she said . `` I will definitely honor that , as much as I do n't agree with it . ''

Are you a retail employee who has to start work on Thanksgiving for Black Friday ? Sound off in the comments section below .

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Part-time Target employee says she has to forgo Thanksgiving with family because of 9 p.m. opening

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More than 40 petitions on Change.org ask retailers to `` give Thanksgiving back to employees ''

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Retail experts say power is in the hands of consumers to control demand for extended shopping hours

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Target says employees get overtime , holiday pay for working certain hours on Thanksgiving , Black Friday